Promising Practices and Lessons Learned for Food Stamp Outreach

	What are promising practices?
	Promising practices are positive examples of food stamp outreach.  While it may be difficult to measure or quantify the "success" of a particular outreach strategy, it's important to share the strategy with others.  By sharing outreach strategies and materials, others can use that information to better implement a project in their own community.
	What are lessons learned?
	Lessons learned are a way for groups engaging in food stamp outreach to show what did or didn't work, or what they might do differently if they had to start over.  As a result, those who are trying to begin food stamp outreach projects can look to these "lessons learned" and evaluate what works and what doesn't in order to make their own outreach more successful.
	Why is FNS collecting promising practices, outreach materials, and lessons learned?
	FNS is collecting promising practices, outreach materials, and lessons learned for two reasons: 1) To understand successful (and unsuccessful) community efforts at food stamp outreach.  This, in turn, helps FNS make administrative decisions that will better serve local communities; and 2) To help community organizations that are currently conducting outreach, or who want to begin outreach,  learn from other groups' successes and mistakes.
	Where do I go to find these promising practices, outreach materials, and lessons learned?
	See our "Food Stamp Outreach Resource Center".  There you will find promising practices, lessons learned, materials used by local organizations, outreach websites, access guides, studies, summaries of projects from previous grant recipients, and more.
	What if I have a promising practice, materials, or a lesson learned to share?
	Please share them with us.  You can email them to Susan Sheets or mail them to: Food and Nutrition Service Food Stamp Outreach Room 820 3101 Park Center Drive Alexandria, VA 22302

Visit our Food Stamp Outreach Resource Center for materials, outreach guides, studies and more.

If you have any resources to add, please contact susan.sheets@fns.usda.gov.